DE 26 10 475 A1 discloses a conveyor for plate-like articles which is based on the object of providing a conveyor allowing automatic carrying-out of a procedure that is normally performed by an operator when he takes plate-like articles from stacks individually by hand and supplies them to a cutting apparatus as a function of the timing of other work procedures.
This object is achieved by a conveyor for plate-like articles that is characterized in that it has at its leading end a suction box which has a suction opening, is supported on plates arranged substantially perpendicularly, laterally next to one another so as to be able to move back and forth in relation to a block and has a drive which travels back and forth in conjunction with the suction box and moves the suction opening in the direction of the stack of plates and back again. Furthermore, this known conveyor has a cover of the suction box that is engaged in a sliding manner with a stationary cover which has an inlet in conjunction with an air tube and a reduced-pressure source and an air opening in the cover which is connected to the suction box and is connected at all times to the inlet of the stationary cover (claim 1).
Shingles or other plates which are delivered in a block are individually removed and supplied for further processing by way of this known conveyor. This known conveyor is not suitable for the conveyance of individually delivered plates and conveyance without the use of a suction box.
DE 17 81 436 A1 discloses a means operating with suction air for conveying goods with a flat or almost flat surface that is equipped with an endless, air-permeable band guided around two deflection rolls and with a suction box which is arranged between the two deflection rolls, connected to a suction pump and rests with its open underside against the upper side or inside of the lower strand of the band.
The inventive aspect of this conveying apparatus is said to be the fact that the conveyor band consists of a flexible, endless band which is provided with openings and to which a layer made of open-cell foam is fastened, the open cells of the layer being connected to the openings (claim 1).
This known apparatus is intended to achieve the object of securely holding even goods with uneven surfaces on conveyor bands with suction means.
This apparatus is not suitable for conveyors which do not adhere to the principle of the suction method.
Furthermore, DE 102 30 653 B4 discloses a collecting conveyor which makes provision, for a cutting machine for cutting loaf-shaped products with a movable collecting band to which reduced pressure is applied at least in certain regions, for the collecting band to have a plurality of transport belts running set apart from one another in parallel and/or suction nozzles, to which reduced pressure is applied, to be arranged between the transport belts.
This collecting conveyor is intended to achieve the object of embodying a corresponding collecting conveyor in such a way that it is easy to clean while at the same time allowing precise deposition of the slices.
This prior art also relates to a conveyor which operates using reduced pressure.
A means for transferring piece goods, which are continuously conveyed on a conveyor band, to a base is known from DE 27 13 895 A1. This means is based on the object of providing a high-performance transporting and transferring means which operates in a fully automatic manner and is capable of grouping in a predetermined number moldings supplied on a continuously operating conveyor band and depositing them onto a pallet or a number of laths corresponding to the size of the moldings.
This object is achieved substantially in that a plurality of discontinuously operating liftable and lowerable conveyor bands consist of a plurality of parallel bands, some of which are provided with humps which, in the raised position, reach through the intermediate spaces between the bands of another conveyor band, protrude slightly beyond the level thereof and take over the piece goods from the other conveyor band.
The moldings are brick moldings. Although DE 27 13 895 A1 discloses conveyor bands which can be raised so as to reach through the intermediate spaces of other conveyor bands, brick moldings must be handled as piece goods, simply by virtue of their weight and compact dimensions, differently to relatively light mineral mats having a large surface area. DE 27 13 895 A1 makes no reference to one-sided raising of a conveyor band and accelerated conveying or a particular configuration of partly attached dimple ridges.
DE 197 15 949 A1 discloses a process for separating small-sized articles and a separating apparatus in which substantially the gapless stringing-together of articles between a build-up band conveyor and a feed band conveyor is achieved via a different band-running speed, pairs of special gripper arms being used for the purposes of separating.
However, in this case, the underlying object is a separation of articles delivered on a conveyor band and not a collection and subsequent onward conveyance.